750 



DISEASES AND ABNORMALITIES. 



frequent among animals reared- in dwellings than those at pasture, and 

 seems to be a malady due to the artificial way in which they are kept. 



It presents itself in somewhat diverse forms ; but in the majority of 

 cases it arises from disturbance in the secretory functions of the intestinal 

 mucous membrane, without any very marked anatomical alterations — 

 being merely an intestinal catarrh. It is rare indeed, and only consecu- 

 tively, that there is inflammation — unless the young creature is somewhat 

 old, when we may have the ordinary lesions of gastro-enteritis, as it 

 occurs in infants. The idiopathic mucous diarrhoea of young animals 

 has a special character, seldom observed in the diarrhoea of adult creatures, 

 and is therefore to be studied apart from those inflammatory conditions 

 of the intestinal tract which affect young and old alike. 



The malady, though very common and fatal, does not appear to have 

 been much studied ; but from what has already been learnt with regard 

 to it, it appears to be one of the most dangerous and infectious disorders 

 to which new-born animals are liable. The diarrhoea often manifests 

 itself as an epizooty, and runs its course rapidly, death taking place 

 within one to three days. It sometimes haunts breeding stables and 

 cowsheds for years. It is extremely difficult of cure, and among calves 

 is seen more frequently in some localities than others — low-lying districts 

 being, perhaps, more often and severely visited than elevated situations. 

 It is sqtid to be particularly prevalent in districts where the spe.nt grains 

 of distilleries and breweries are generally used for feeding purposes. 

 When a number of new-born animals are crowded together, if one is 

 attacked by diarrhoea, all are likely to suffer. 



Syfnpfoms. 



The disease generally appears suddenly in a shed : an apparently 

 healthy calf being seized all at once, and without any notable alteration 

 in the food or hygienic management. The diarrhoea manifests itself 

 most frequently during the first eight days after birth, though in calves it 

 may not show itself until the tenth or fifteenth day. In many cases it is 

 present almost immediately — within twenty-four hours — after the creature 

 is born : and death ensues in from twenty-four to forty-eight hours — from 

 the second to the fourth day after birth. In a number of instances, 

 Franck has known the diarrhoea to appear immediately the calf was born, 

 and before it had time to suck ; indeed, it never sucked, as it was dead 

 before it could do so. As a rule, according to the same authority, the 

 calf has two or three good meals before the acute diarrhoea sets in. 



The faeces are very fluid and mucus in character, they have a sour or 

 foetid odor, are yellow-tinted and then whitish, or of a greyish-green hue, 

 but most frequently light-colored. The evacuations are more or less 

 numerous in a brief period — from five to fifteen or twenty in twenty-four 

 hours, and the excreta are projected with some force. The first indica- 

 tion of the presence of diarrhoea is usually the soiled condition of the tail, 

 and the animal ceasing to suck. The creature seems suddenly to lose its 

 strength, remains nearly always lying, and when it gets up it staggers 

 about ; it is indifferent to surrounding objects ; the eyes sink deeply in 

 their orbits ; saliva flows from the mouth, no attempt being made to 

 swallow it, and it wets the throat and breast. Emaciation is astonishing- 

 ly rapid, and the hair is dry and erect. Nevertheless, the belly is not 

 painful to pressure, neither is meteorismus present ; no gas is mingled 

 with the alvine evacuations, borborygmi are not heard, nor are symptoms 



